Highway crossing protection



Oct. 25, 1932. SPRAY 1,884,329

HIGHWAY CROSSING PROTECTION Filed May 16, 1951 *1 I i ,6 9 0 11) 1 9 0 px (12 [a 18 17 NT 15 14 INViNTOR.

0: E b Spray 19 -1- 3 QR Y/LMUZH 22 flk ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 25,, 1932 UN! D S LESTER?.-E;1 PBAY,..0F.- WILKINSi-W PENN YLVAN A;.A$$ D THE N OFFICE PENNSYIEVANIAi Applicationfiled May 16,

My invention relates to apparatus for the control ofhighwaycrossing sign-als,- and has for an-obj ect the provisionof systems for the automatic control of. crossing signalssin -lo- 'cations where the usual track circuitsmust be spaced atthe highwaydue-to' an electric railway or some other cause. I g

I will describe several forms of apparatus embodying m-y in-vention, and will then point outthe novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is .a diagrammatic view showing one form of ap-- paratus embodying my "invention- Fig. 2 is a View showing amodification of a portion of the apparatus shown in; Fig. 1 and also-embodying m-y-invent1on.- Fig. 3 1s a dlagrammatic view showing another form of apparatusemb'odyingmy-invention. Fig. 41s a' view-showinga IDOdIfiCfltIOIL of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 and also embodyingmy invention;

similai reterence characterstrefer to. sim-.

ilar parts in each oftheviews.

Referring firstto Fig-i1;thereferencecharacter K designates a railway track; along whichhtrafiic moves .in bothdirections, and

which .track is intersected. by a highway. H:

Thetrack Kiis divided bythe usual insulated joints .to form two. track. sections .A -B and C-J), located .onopposite. sides of the highway and spaced by the distance B -C, due to some :cause suchas an electric railway running. in the same; general directionas the highway. i

Section A';.B;i's provided with a track circuit. comprising: a battery 20 connected acrossv the rails adjacent. the middle of :the.

section, and an interlocking relay R having one. magnet; 3 connected across the. rails .at

the/end Tremote; from the. highway and .an-

other inagnet'z i .connectedpa-cross the rails at the endadjacent thehighway. Section C D 1.

is provided with .a'similar track. circuit-including. an interlocking relay 1R having two magnetsfi and 6.

Atsig naLL, which, as hereshown, is .an electric-hell, is locatedadjacent the intersection ofQt-he highway and the :track K,

and is provided 1 with a circuit which in-. cludes -a back 1 contact 7:associatedwith reto ring.

section A B, magnet will become de- HIGHWAY cnosslne rnoimcrton 193.1. Serial No. 537,907.

lay magnet 3 and a back contact 8-associatedf with relay mag'net6. These'two contacts areincluded in multiplein the circuit for the bell L, and this circuitisprovidedwitha source-of current, the terminals of which are designatedw and 0. It follows that-when either'back contact' 7 'or 8 is closed, thebel-l will ring, whereas the bell will be silent when .both of these contacts are open.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 is as follows: When a train moving: toward the right enters section A-B,' magnet 31 will release, so that back contact 7 will close and the a bell will start As thetrain proceeds through energized, but the current supplied to magnet 3 will not be of suflicient magnitude to open contact 7 until the rear end of-th'e train passes point B. -When the train, enters section C-D,it will first deenergize magnet 5 of relay R and will subsequently deenergize magnet 6 of this relay, but'owing to the interlocking characteristics of relay R contact '8- will not close when themagnets are deenergized in this sequence. that the operation ofthe bell L will stop when the rear end of the train passes point B,'so that the train will notcause operation of the bellfwhile it is 'receding from the highway.

The operation of the apparatus during the passage of a train moving in an opposite direction will be apparent fromtheforego- .ing without detailed explanation.

Referring now" to Fig, 2, the track circuits illustrated in' this view are the same as those in Fig. 1; butthe apparatus forcon- It follows associated with magnet- 6, ,frontcontact 13 of relay T, and'the windingof-this relay to terminal 0. Contact 11 is of the well known fiagman type; that is to say, when magnets 3 and 4 are deenergized in the sequence named, contact 11 will open and will remain open until magnet 3 again becomes energized; but when these magnets are deenergized in the reverse sequence, contact 11 remains closed. Contact 12 is controlled in a similar manner by relay R The operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2, in so far as the crossing signal L is concerned, is as follows: When a train moving toward the right enters section AB, it will first deenergize magnet 3, thereby opening contact 11 so that relay T will release. Signal L will then start to operate by virtue of a circuit which includes a back contact 22 of relay T. As the train pro ceeds into section A-B, magnet I will become deenergized, but contact 9 will not close because of the interlocking characteristic of relay R It follows that relay T will remain deenergized. Then the front end of the train enters section CD-, it will deenergize magnet 5, so that contact 10 will close and will cause relay T to become energized. As the train proceeds through section CD, contact 12 will remain closed, so

that when magnet 5 again becomes energized,

relay T will remain closed due to stick circuit. It follows that the signal L will stop operating as soon as the front end of the train enters section CD.

The operation of the apparatus during the passage of a train moving in the other direction will be obvious from the foregoing without explanation.

The reference character S designates a railway signal governing traffic moving toward the right through sections AB and C- D.. This signal is controlled by a front contact- 19 of a relay G. The circuit for relay G includes contacts 14 and 15 associated with relay a contacts 17 and 18 associated with relay R and a contact 16 of relay T. It follows that signal S will indicate stop while a train occupies any part of the track between points A and D.

Referring now to Fig. 3, in the form illustrated in this View, section Al3 is divided to form two subsections AE and E-B; and section C-D is similarly divided to form 'two subsections CF and FD. Each subsection is provided with a track battery 20. Magnet i of relay R is connected across the rails of subsection E-B, and magnet 3 of this relay is connected across the rails of subsection AE through a front contact 21 associated with magnet 4:. The magnets of relay R are connected with the two subsections CF and F D in a similar manner. The control of the signal L by relays R and R is the same as in Fig.1.

When a train moving toward the right enters subsection AE, it will deenergize magnet 3, thereby setting the signal L into operation. When this train enters subsection EB, it will deenergize magnet 4, thereby opening at contact 21 the circuit for magnet 3, so that contact 7' will remain closed until the rear end of the train passes point B. When the train enters subsection C-F, it will deenergize magneto, and this will in turn deenergize magnet 6, but contact 8 will remain open because of the interlocking characteristic of relay R It follows that the operation of signalL will stop when the rear end of the train passes point B, and that while the train is receding from the highway II, it will not cause operation of this signal. The operation during the passage of a train moving toward the left will be obvious from the foregoing without explanation.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the track circuit apparatus is the same as that shown in Fig. 3, except that the circuit for magnet 3 of relay B does not include a front contact associated with magnet 4, and the circuit for magnet 6 of relay B does not include a contact associated with magnet 5. The circuits for the control of the highway crossing signal L and the railway signal S are the same as the circuits shown in Fig.2, and so the operation of the apparatus in Fig. t will be obvious from the foregoing description of Fig. 2.

Although I have herein shown and de scribed only four forms of apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: I

1. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, an interlocking relay asso ciated with each of said sections, and a high way crossing signal located at said intersection and controlled jointly by said two relays.

2. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, a track circuit for each section ineluding a source of current connected across the rails adjacent the middle of the section and an interlocking relay the first magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end adjacent the highway and the second magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end remote from the highway, and a highway crossing signal located at said intersection and controlled jointly by said two relays.

3. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, atrack circuit for each section including a source of current connected across the rails adjacent the middle of the section and an interlocking relay the first magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end adjacent the highway and the second magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end remote from the highway, a high way crossing signal located at said intersection, and a circuit for said signal including in multiple a back contact associated with the second magnet of one relay and a back contact associated with the second magnet of the other relay.

4. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, a track circuit for each sec tion including a source of current connected across the rails adjacent the middle of the section and an interlocking relay the first magnet of which is connected across, the rails at the end adjacent the highway and the sec ond magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end remote from the highway, a signal relay, a pick-up circuit for said signal relay including in multiple a back contact associated with the first magnet of each interlocking relay, a stick circuit for said signal relay including in series a front contact associated with the second magnet of each interlocking relay, and a highway crossing signal controlled by said signal relay.

5. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said-track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, a track circuit for each section including a source of current connected across the rails adjacent the middle of the section and an interlocking relay the first magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end adjacent the highway and the second magnet of which is connected across the rails at the end remote from the highway, a signal relay, a pick-up circuit for said signal relay including in multiple a back contact associated with the first magnet of each interlocking relay, a stick circuit for said signal relay including in series a front contact associated with the second magnet of each interlocking relay, a highway crossing signal located at said intersection and controlled by said signal relay, and a railway signal governing trafiic through said two sections and controlled by each magnet of each interlocking relay and by said signal relay.

6. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, and each section being divided to form two subsections, an interlocking relay for each section having its first magnet connected with the rails of the subsection nearer to the highway and its second magnet connected with the rails of the subsection remote from the highway through a front contact associated with the first magnet, and a highway crossing signal located at said in? etseei lays. 7A

:aeaaaat teat-Wk 1am c d iby a i l w i seiditreekie d v d to form two sections-one on each side of the h hen ma nte zlec i ai y, s i ed withiea hi se i nd ra' i gedsohat w en e fi einiarr neqhlel a h hi hway: nt section the armature for the second .magnet lease at ntin s to; e r eas d s t the, train, leayes, the; section but that when a ra n Mar ne he i hway nt rsh s e i n e rm ti re i he r t me eet e ea s, nd con inu se tr leesed nti eam eavesit la eeti et i nalv l y, a risk-4 p circuit for said signalrelay including, inv

mul ip e a a ki en at assoc a e W hii a r t? mag e i ac le nte ing elay,

stick circuit for said signal relay including n seri s a e ontfienta t ss ci d t 'th cond ag et 5 f 1 ch: nte e l g el y and, a :highavayrerossing signal "controlled by saidesignal relay-,1

8.; lnec mb nat o a ai a lway-- ack in rr ec e by a ghway, saidtre k be ng i to form two sections one on each sidejof the,

releases and continues to be released until,

the train leaves the section but that when a train leaving the highway enters the section the armature for the first magnet releases and continues to be released until the train leaves the section, a signal relay, a pick-up circuit for said signal relay including in multiple a back contact associated with the first magnet of each interlocking relay, a stick circuit for said signal relay including in series a front contact associated with the second magnet of each interlocking relay, a highway crossing signal located at said intersection and controlled by said signal relay, and a railway signal governing traffic through said two sections and controlled b each magnet of each interlocking relay an by said signal relay.

9. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, and each section being divided to form twov subsections, aninterlocking relay for each section having its first magnet connected with the rails of the subsection nearer to the highway and its second magnet connected with the rails of the other subsection; and a highway crossing signal located at said intersection and controlled jointly by said two relays.

10. In combination, a railway track inter- Y sected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, and each section being divided to form two subsections, an interlocking relay for each section having its first magnet 'coneiaee-i nt'rol edrieie lya r e dr e nected with the rails of the subsection nearer to the highway and its second ma et connected with the rails of the other su section; a highway crossing signal located at said in- 51 tersection, and a circuit for said signal includ ing in multiple a back contact associated with r the second magnet of one relay and a back contact associated with the second magnet of the other relay. 1 11. In combination, a railway track intersected by a highway, said track being divided to form two sections one on each side of the highway, an interlocking relay associated with each section and arranged so that when a train approaching the highway enters the section the armature for the second magnet releases and continues to be released until the train leaves the section but that when a train leaving the highway enters the section the armature for the first magnet releases and continues to be released until the train leaves the section, a highway crossing signal located at said intersection, and means for operating said signal when and only when the armature for the second magnet of either relay is released. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LESTER E. SPRAY. 

